Rama Ekadashi 2026: Date, Shubh Muhurat, Paran Time, Vrat Katha & Mantra

Rama Ekadashi 2026 falls on Thursday, 5 November 2026. It is the Ekadashi of the Krishna paksha of Kartik - the Lakshmi Ekadashi, days before Diwali - and the fast is broken (paran) on Friday, 6 November 2026 between 06:37 AM and 10:31 AM.

Below is the complete guide to Rama Ekadashi 2026: the tithi timings, the shubh muhurat, the paran window and how it was worked out, the vrat vidhi, the vrat katha and the mantras of Lord Vishnu with Goddess Lakshmi. Every date and time on this page is computed from our own Vedic panchang for Delhi, not copied from a calendar - you can check any of them yourself on our free daily Panchang.

संक्षेप में: रमा एकादशी 2026 बृहस्पतिवार, 5 नवम्बर को है। यह कार्तिक कृष्ण पक्ष की एकादशी है - दीपावली से कुछ ही दिन पहले आने वाली लक्ष्मी एकादशी, जिसमें भगवान विष्णु के साथ माता लक्ष्मी की पूजा होती है। एकादशी तिथि 4 नवम्बर प्रातः 11:04 से 5 नवम्बर प्रातः 10:37 तक है, और पारण शुक्रवार, 6 नवम्बर को प्रातः 06:37 से 10:31 के बीच किया जाता है। इस दिन वैधृति योग है, पर यह व्रत को प्रभावित नहीं करता। पूरा लेख हिंदी में पढ़ें →

Rama Ekadashi 2026: date, tithi and paran

Rama Ekadashi 2026 shubh muhurat (Delhi)

• Brahma Muhurat: 05:00 AM to 05:48 AM
• Abhijit Muhurat: 11:41 AM to 12:29 PM
• Sunrise / Sunset: 06:36 / 17:33
• Rahu Kaal (avoid): 01:27 PM to 02:49 PM

Our engine shows Vaidhriti running on this day - one of the two yogas classical texts mark as inauspicious. This does not affect the vrat. A vrat is an act of devotion, not an electional muhurat; what Vaidhriti argues against is starting a new venture on the day. If you were planning to sign, launch or purchase, the Dwadashi or the days after Diwali are better - and the free muhurat finder will show you why.

These timings are for Delhi. Sunrise moves by up to about forty minutes across India, and the muhurats move with it - enter your own city on the Panchang for your local figures.

Rama Ekadashi paran (fast-breaking) time

The paran is on Friday, 6 November 2026, from 06:37 AM to 10:31 AM. Hari Vasara ends on 5 November at 04:35 PM, so the paran window on the 6th opens at sunrise - but it closes at 10:31 AM when Dwadashi ends, which is early. Do not leave it late.

The window is worked out this way: the fast is broken on Dwadashi, after sunrise, once Hari Vasara - the first quarter of the Dwadashi tithi, in which paran is forbidden - has passed, and before the Dwadashi tithi itself ends. Breaking the fast early in the window is considered better than late, and leaving it until after Dwadashi has ended is held to undo the merit of the fast.

Significance of Rama Ekadashi

Rama here is not Lord Rama of Ayodhya. It is a name of Goddess Lakshmi, and this is her Ekadashi - the last one before Diwali, falling in the Krishna paksha of Kartik. In 2026 it lands on 5 November, with Dhanteras and Diwali following within days, which is why so many households treat it as the real opening of the festival season: the fast is kept, the house is cleaned and lit, and only then does the buying begin. Its stated fruit is the removal of accumulated wrongdoing and the arrival of Lakshmi where she was absent - prosperity understood as something that comes to a settled, clean house rather than something chased.

Rama Ekadashi vrat vidhi - how to keep the fast

• Rise in the Brahma Muhurat (05:00 AM to 05:48 AM), bathe, and take the sankalpa - say plainly what the fast is for.
• Clean the puja space, place an image or idol of Lord Vishnu with Goddess Lakshmi, and light a ghee lamp.
• Offer tulsi leaves, yellow flowers, sandalwood, incense, fruit and panchamrit. Tulsi is essential to any Vishnu vrat - but never pluck tulsi on the Ekadashi day itself; pick the leaves the evening before.
• Chant the Vishnu mantras below and read or listen to the Rama Ekadashi vrat katha.
• Keep the fast as your health allows - nirjala (waterless) is the strictest form and is optional; phalahar with fruit, milk and water is the common practice. Rice and grains are avoided by everyone keeping any Ekadashi.
• Spend the evening in bhajan and the aarti of Lord Vishnu. Many households stay awake (jagran) through the night.
• Break the fast (paran) the next day inside the window given above, after offering food and dakshina to a brahmin or to someone in need.

Rama Ekadashi vrat katha

King Muchukunda was a friend of Indra himself, a ruler so firm in dharma that the gods counted on him. His daughter Chandrabhaga was married to Shobhana, the son of King Chandrasena.

In Muchukunda’s kingdom the Ekadashi fast was not optional. It was kept by everyone, by royal order, and it happened that Shobhana was staying in his father-in-law’s house when the Kartik Krishna Ekadashi came. Chandrabhaga was afraid for him: her husband was physically weak and could not bear hunger for a full day. Shobhana would not use that as an excuse in that house. He kept the fast - and it killed him.

But the vrat he had kept did not go with him into nothing. By its merit Shobhana was reborn as the king of a splendid city on Mount Mandarachala, glorious in every way but unstable - because the fast, though sincere, had been kept without shraddha, without full faith and preparation. He held a kingdom that could vanish.

A brahmin of Muchukunda’s realm found that city in his travels and recognised the king. He carried word to Chandrabhaga, who went to her husband and gave him the merit of the many Ekadashis she had kept since childhood. With her merit added to his, the city became permanent. That is the katha’s real teaching: an Ekadashi kept in the right spirit is durable, and merit can be given to the person you love.

Mantras to chant on Rama Ekadashi

Chant these during the puja and through the day’s japa:

ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय॥

ॐ नमो नारायणाय॥

शान्ताकारं भुजगशयनं पद्मनाभं सुरेशं
विश्वाधारं गगनसदृशं मेघवर्णं शुभाङ्गम्‌॥

ॐ श्रीं ह्रीं क्लीं महालक्ष्म्यै नमः॥

The complete aarti, chalisa and mantra texts are in our devotional library, and the Ekadashi Mata aarti is the one most families sing at the evening lamp.

Book a puja for Rama Ekadashi 2026

Rama Ekadashi is Lakshmi’s own Ekadashi and it falls days before Dhanteras, which is why the Lakshmi and Kuber rites are kept in this same week rather than at a random time of year. If you would rather have it performed properly by pandits on your behalf, with sankalp in your name, a recorded video, photographs and prasad couriered to you, these are the two that fit this vrat:

• Kuber Lakshmi Puja & Yagya - from ₹11,000
• Kanak Dhara Yagya Puja - from ₹5,100

Every puja is available in Individual, Family and Maha tiers; the full list is in the online puja store.

Rama Ekadashi 2026: FAQs

When is Rama Ekadashi in 2026?
Rama Ekadashi 2026 is on Thursday, 5 November. The Ekadashi tithi begins at 11:04 AM on 4 November and ends at 10:37 AM on 5 November.

What is the Rama Ekadashi 2026 paran time?
The paran is on Friday, 6 November 2026, between 06:37 AM and 10:31 AM (Delhi). This is a short window - Dwadashi ends at 10:31 AM - so break the fast in the early morning rather than leaving it.

Is Rama Ekadashi named after Lord Rama?
No. Rama here is a name of Goddess Lakshmi. This is the Lakshmi Ekadashi of the Kartik Krishna paksha, and it is the last Ekadashi before Diwali.

How is Rama Ekadashi connected to Diwali?
It falls in the same dark fortnight of Kartik, a few days before Dhanteras and Diwali, and many families treat it as the start of the festival period - the fast and the cleaning of the home come first, then the lamps and the buying.

Whether this vrat helps you the way the katha promises depends on far more than the date: it depends on which dasha you are running and what your own chart is doing. Start with your free birth chart on Free Kundli, get the detailed 46-page Kundli report for ₹49, or talk to an astrologer about the right vrat and remedy for your chart. Planning a ceremony? The free Muhurat finder will rank the days for you.

More from this series: Aja Ekadashi · Parivartini Ekadashi · Indira Ekadashi · Papankusha Ekadashi.

Note: dates and timings on this page are computed from our own Vedic panchang for Delhi (28.61°N, 77.21°E) and follow the Purnimanta lunar month used in North India. They can differ by city and by calendar tradition. The paran window follows the standard rule - after sunrise, after Hari Vasara, before Dwadashi ends. Please confirm with your family’s panchang or a learned pandit before observing the vrat.